THE LORD MAYOR’S SHOW
The day approached for the Lord Mayor’s Show. Marco determined that
Brigitta should see it; and my pretty Italian mamma determined that
I should see it too, so out we went early to get a good place, Marco
leaving the organ at home, up in one corner, as he said the Lord Mayor
would be sure to have plenty of music without his help, and they should
find the organ very troublesome to themselves, and other people too, in
a great crowd. We arrived in Cheapside about eight o’clock. On the way
we had turned up a little alley, where a man kept an early breakfast
stall, and had two pints of hot coffee and two thick slices of bread
and butter; and when these were eaten, Marco bought two more, which he
wrapped up in a large cabbage-leaf, and put into his pocket. He said
they were sure to get hungry with waiting in the street.
Well, as I said, we got into Cheapside before eight o’clock. It was a
foggy morning, and wet and muddy under foot. But still there were a
great many people going backwards and forwards, and all looking very
busy and anxious. We first chose a spot near Bow church; but very soon
a number of tall people came and stood in front of us, so that we
could not see through them, nor over their heads. Marco said to one
of the tallest of the men, ‘I wish you would be so kind as to move a
little, sir; we cannot see over your head.’ ‘Oh,’ said the unkind man,
‘suppose you find another place.’ ‘And so let us,’ said Brigitta, ‘for
we can see nothing here through these tall bodies. Come, Marco.’ We
accordingly walked on.
We had only gone a few paces when Marco said he recollected there had
been a fire in Cheapside only a few days ago on the opposite side of
the way, and as there could not have been time to build a new house,
or even pull down the old one, we might perhaps get up into the ruins
somewhere. He was quite right. There stood the black shell of the
house, with some wooden planks in front of all the lower windows. The
crowd was now fast collecting. We ran across, and pushing aside one of
the planks, in we got,--scrambled over a great quantity of rubbish, and
black bricks and beams, and smoke and dirt, and broken things,--and
with great difficulty Marco climbed up the remains of a broken
staircase to see if it could be safely attempted. ‘Now, Brigitta,’
said he, when he was up on a broad beam running close underneath the
first-floor windows, ‘now, Brigitta, it’s all safe, come up.’
‘But how shall I get the poppet up?’ said Brigitta.
‘Oh,’ said Marco, ‘make haste, for I see more people getting in by the
windows, and you will lose your place. Throw her up to me! Make haste!’
I trembled from head to foot. But before I had time to think more
about my fears, the little girl pitched me up in the air, and in the
cleverest way possible Marco caught me in his two hands. Then up got
Brigitta, and the first thing she did was to station me between two
broken bricks at the side of the window, so that I could look down from
this height upon the whole of the Lord Mayor’s Show as it passed in the
street beneath. We had an excellent place at the middle window of the
ruined case of the burned house.
We had not been here a minute before a crowd of people got in through
the planks below, several of which were broken down, and in they came
rushing, and tried to clamber up to the windows. However, we three kept
our good places.
And now came peppering down a shower of rain, and then another shower
of rain stronger than the first, and then there came another shower of
rain that lasted an hour; and then there was a thick yellow fog for
another hour, and then the rain ceased, and the fog began to clear
away; and when the fog was gone, suddenly the sun came out, and shone
very brightly.
‘Now,’ said Marco, ‘let us eat our other slices of bread and butter.’
This they did with great pleasure; the sun shining like gold upon the
butter all the time.
They had scarcely done eating when ‘boom!’ came the sound of a great
drum,--and all sorts of musical instruments struck up, and the boom of
the great drum was quickly followed by the ‘rub-a-dub row-de-dow’ of
smaller drums, and the ‘too-ra-loo’ of fifes, and then we saw the show
coming along the streets. The streets were lined with soldiers who made
a long alley; on the outside of the soldiers next the houses the crowds
were struggling to look over the soldiers’ heads; and along the inside
of the alley formed by the soldiers, the show came pompously along in
the middle of the street.
I have said that I was seated between two broken bricks, at one side
of the wall, and next to me was Brigitta. There were at least five
people standing behind us at the same window, looking over our heads,
and behind Brigitta was a person in a water-proof cape, part of
which, hanging over Brigitta’s left shoulder, came just in front of
my face. Brigitta perceived this, and several times pushed the cape
back to enable me to see; but as the show came on and got finer and
finer, and more thick with men all dressed in colors, and silks, and
ribbons, and gold lace,--and the horses in their fine harnesses and
trappings came nodding and dancing along, and the coaches got more
golden and shining with fat figures in cocked hats sitting inside,
and very fat gentlemen with red faces in splendid waistcoats, and the
crowds of cocked hats, and multitudes of knees with shining buckles
increased,--of all this splendor I had only time to take one look, and
then the heavy cape again fell before my eyes, and Brigitta was too
much engaged herself to think any more of removing it. However, I did
occasionally manage to see, because the person in the water-proof cape
moved about, and often bent himself from side to side to see better,
and once when he did so, I got sight of the two men in armor,--two
men covered all over,--one in iron and one in brass, just as lobsters
are covered with their shells, only shining in the sun, and riding
on large black horses. Besides these I also saw the principal dolls
of this wonderful show--I mean the Lord Mayor in his coach, with the
wooden Sword-bearer and the gingerbread Mace-bearer--at least, they
looked like wood and gingerbread; and, indeed, so did the Lord Mayor
himself. The Sword-bearer and the Mace-bearer both sat back to back at
the open windows in a thorough draught, and they both appeared to have
got colds in their noses. We had an excellent view of the Lord Mayor
in his robe of scarlet, with gold and colored stripes over it, and
wearing a beautiful necklace hanging down upon his breast. He gave a
sigh as he passed us, and laid his hand upon his fine stomach, and then
he gave a smile. The coach was drawn by eight horses with proud necks,
all covered with rich aprons, and ribbons, and straps, and tassels,
and tinkerums and things, and with quantities of colored ribbon-bows,
and streamers and gold lace, and brass nails and buckles. Then the
coach--oh, what a coach! It was like a coach made of glass set in a
very fine, fancy looking-glass frame, and stuck on a sort of gilded
car all covered with paintings and golden carvings and sweetmeats,
extremely like several coaches I had seen on Twelfth-cakes, only a
great deal bigger. I wondered very much if it was made of sugar.
We waited till the procession returned; it was a long time, but we
were determined to wait. When they all came back we saw, besides the
fine gentlemen, a number of beautiful fat ladies in feathers, with
diamonds and rosy cheeks, the fattest of whom, and the most beautiful
of course, was the Lady Mayoress in an apricot satin dress with all
sorts of embroidery, and lace, and ribbons, and spangles, and precious
things, and looking all so stiff and expensive behind the glass, but
yet seeming to be alive, although afraid to move in the least for fear
of injuring some part of all this dress. I thought it was so kind of
everybody in the show to take the time and trouble to let themselves be
dressed for us to see them.
All of a sudden we heard a great crack, and then a loud cry from a
number of people below, ‘The wall is falling! come down, all of you!’
No one wanted a second warning, and all who were up at the windows
went scrambling down as quick as they could, and in the best way they
could; but how it was all done I have no notion, as Marco had suddenly
seized me, and thrust me, head foremost, into his pocket, where I
remained for two or three hours, and when next taken out I found myself
in the little back room, where they were going to have some supper of
macaroni.
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